Adventure Tourism

Ladakh is an ideal destination for adventure enthusiasts and offers many challenging options for different kinds of adventure activities amidst landscapes of breathtaking rugged beauty.

These include trekking, mountain climbing, river rafting, Jeep safaris, mountain biking, and many more. The range and scope of adventure activities are extensive and options are available for all classes of visitors - families, students, amateurs, professionals etc. Trekking options range from short, 2-3 day-long soft walks through villages and low hills, to long trans-mountain traverse requiring weeks of back country walking and camping in the wilderness. Similarly, river rafting options range from day trips on short stretches of the Indus and Zanskar rivers for amateurs, to week-long professionally guided white water expeditions on the Zanskar. In the case of mountaineering, the options are equally attractive and the range of climbing sites is considerable, spread across the Great Himalayas & the Karakorum ranges.

Mention must also be made here of the traditional sports of the region such as polo and archery, played with great pomp and ceremony. Archery is a community driven sport, attracting participation on a community level in different villages, both in Leh & Kargil districts. While in Leh, archery is held as more of convivial get-together and merry making occasion with a lot of fanfare and feasting, in Kargil it's held more seriously and with less merry making, albeit on a large convivial level. Polo on the other hand is more specialized and played more often in Leh and occasionally in Kargil and Drass.